Alternative fuels including wind, solar, geo-thermal, ethanol, coal seam gas and natural gas.

Why You Should Hire an Architect

Posted: September 8th, 2010 | Author: squadron | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: | No Comments »

An architect is a highly trained expert who has experience in planning, designing and the construction of buildings and the management of construction projects.

Also, one is not considered an architect until he or she has properly passed all the necessary courses and accredited programs to procure a license in order to practice architecture. When practicing architecture, the architect can have freedom to design the building or group of buildings, as well as the space around it that still counts as part of the property. These ideas form the planning stage of the project and can take months to finalise.

The reason why architects are so important to the success of any building plan is simple: they can put your ideas into a feasible and plausible reality. If you have great ambitions for your home or business, then an architect can make sure that those dreams will come true.

But aside from the actual design of the building, there are so many other complex factors (beyond the scope of inexperienced people) that need to be examined, and these are also covered in the responsibilities of the architect.

For example, there are some architectural firms that not only design the building for you, but they also prepare the bid documents for the pricing of the entire project, and are the ones that most commonly talk to the contractors, stakeholders and any third parties involved in the assignment.

When you engage an architect, you will not have to be confused by by all the small but important technical details. All you have to be concerned about is if whether or not the building is coming along according to the plans originally established with the help of the architect.

The architect is also very helpful before construction begins. If you do not have an actual plan but do have an idea on what you want your structure to look like, then that is where the professional can help you on the project.

All you have to do is to present them with some ideas and they can be the ones to take care of site analysis, the assistance you may need in zoning and planning, any environmental impact studies you may need, tendering and contract negotiation with the contractor and his men, and so much more.

The architect that you hire will be involved in all of the aspects of your project. Essentially, you are hiring an architect because you require a trained professional to take carriage of planning and designing the building or dwelling as well as provide the necessary feedback and support throughout the entire project.

Engaging an architect is like taking on a business partner for your project, one who is knowledgeable, knows the risk areas around the project and knows how to minimize those risks, has the necessary people skills to work with contractors in order to hire additional resources within budget.

A good architect will treat the project as though it is his or her own and will devise creative ideas and plans to the manager, and discuss in great detail the advantages, disadvantages, any hindrances of a particular strategy.

These are just some of the many important benefits and key reasons why you should use an architect. There are so many more reasons that really prove that any project worth going through with has to be under the supervision of a highly qualified architect. In the end, it all boils down to the fact that you have a dream construction project, and your architect is the person to make all these dreams become reality.

Looking for Brisbane architects? For renovation architects Brisbane, contact Dion Seminara Architecture. They are leading home improvement architects. Brisbane office is located in Morningside.


Tents and Marquees

Posted: September 2nd, 2010 | Author: squadron | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , | No Comments »

marquees-pavillion-3Event Tents, such as wedding tents are for when you want to make a daring outdoor scene. They are generally structures installed at a location for a period of time.

Why A Tent?
Commercial Tents are used as protection from the sun, rain or a gathering place. They can make a stunning and creative atmosphere for any event.

Tent Rentals
Tents can be rented or leased for a day, a weekend, weeks, months, etc. For one or two day events, the Tents are usually installed a few days before the event, depending on scheduling and weather, and remain until a few days after the event. Many rentals are quoted for the entire week, allowing for time to set up and design the interior and exterior. Some Tents are built for exceedingly long-term events and have been installed and remain installed for years.

What Kind of Tent Should I Rent?
Tent rental companies come in all sizes – from small-sized companies with just a few Tents to exceedingly large-sized companies – carrying dozens of several sizes and styles of Tents. Some general rental companies rent from tent rental companies to accommodate their client’s needs.

You may know you want to use a standard Tent for your event, or your event planner may already have in mind to use a Tent. You have options! There are lots of other spectacular
structures and Tent styles out there. Some are unique and make a statement of their own. Ask the rental company you’re working with for a list of the type styles they have on hand.

Usually, the different types of Tents available in most companies are (the names vary depending of the company):

Folding Tents Easy and fast to use and always in demand. Very popular, because usually is the less expensive tent. Fast, flexible, cost effective and long lasting.

They are used by:

  • Corporate brands across most industries
  • Government & Council buyers
  • SME business marketers
  • Franchisees
  • Agricultural exhibitors
  • Emergency services & community groups
  • Folding Tents create brand exposure opportunities.
  • You can reach your audience at the right time, in the right place with the right message.

Inflatable Tents An exciting and entertaining alternative Tent. Easy & fast to set up. Be sure they have removable printed roof because in that way you can share the investment with other licences.

What Size Tent Will I Need?

The size of Tent depends on a few factors:

1. The number of guests you expect
2. Layout or seating arrangements or the style of event:

* Reception with what type of tables?
* Speaker engagement with what type of seating?
* Will you need a dance floor?
* Will you need display areas for your products?

If you are interested in a Tent, you can expect to need about 2,000 – 2,500 square feet for 200-seated guests. That could mean a 40 x 60 size Tent (Always ask the Tent rental vendor directly and they’ll give you the best informationabout the size of Tent you’ll need).

Therefore, the key rule is; know what you are going to use your tent for. The choice of tents is amazing, almost on par with the choice of cars that you can buy.

So if you need a tent for the family BBQ, for example, your needs are fairly basic
and your budget may be tight. Look for cheap tents that offers a waterproof Polyester roof and a good warranty for under $600.

If you need a tent for a school or sports club you will need a range of sizes, and colours. Most plain colour Tents s range between $995- $2900. If you are keen to promote yourself, you can have your names printed for around $150-$300. Printing logos usually be a little more expensive.

In the last 5 years, portable Tents have become important to businesses for their marketing. The key need for these buyers is a prominent and identical reproduction of their logo. Sign written or printed Tents can be as boring as a website address or they can be a design extravaganza.

Remember, if it is for commercial purposes, the aim is to build awareness of your company with your printed Tent. Printed corporate Tents range in price from $1500- $4000. Good ones will really catch your eye.

Once you have decided on what sort of buyer you are and how you are going to use your Tents, a good Tents company will offer you a choice of frames, a warranty of between 3-5 years and help with designing the printing-if you need it.

For more information about tents, contact Extreme Marquees. We have a range of cheap tents, for all sorts of home and business applications.


Repairing Flooded Carpet: A cheap job is a good job right? Wrong….

Posted: August 18th, 2010 | Author: squadron | Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »

Don’t have an unprofessional 24 hour carpet cleaner try to repair your carpets damaged by water. These are the things you must be wary of:

Overcharging. An amateur water restoration carpet cleaner may fill the job up with unnecessary steps. E.g. using dehumidification for the damaged carpets isn’t always needed.

Not having the correct equipment. They might use equipment from hire companies to dry the carpet. This is ok to do, but a professional water damage cleaner will have all their equipment so they offer a quicker response and hopefully a better value job.

Does not have a proper moisture metre. If they don’t have the correct moisture meter, they cannot know when the carpet is dry. This increases the danger of mould growth in the future. Mould removal may be required.

If they aren’t specialised. There are many “Carpet Cleaners” in this industry who do restoration work on the “side.” i.e. they do not take on this type of job each day. Be wary of them. Drying carpets is an art. Reinstalling carpets on the gripper strips is best to be taken on by a professional, otherwise the carpet can be damaged incontrovertibly.

You may be thinking, how do I locate a professional Flood Restoration professional? Below I have set out some signifiers to check for when hunting around for a carpet flood damage business:

What size is their Yellow Pages ad: This can signify how much business they get already. A full-size Yellow Pages ad slot can cost around $50 000. If they have got a big ad, you can at least have some expectation that they are established.

Where do they come up in Google? The higher they rate in Google, the more “online votes” there are for that business.

What Qualifications do they have? The foundational qualification required is a IICRC qualification in Applied Structural Drying and Water Damage Restoration.

Do Insurance companies source them for water damage jobs? This is a great indicator. If insurance companies hire them, the business is very likely to be excellent at their job. Insurance companies generally use the providers that offer them the top value for their money.

How much Equipment do they have? They should at least own 100 Air movers. If they own this many, this shows they have been up and running for some time. Our business took 8 years to acquire that many wet carpet drying air movers.

What sort of commitment can you get from them on the phone? See if you can pin them down to a fee for water extraction, water removal and initial inspection. If they don’t give you a price for only this, you know they are not interested in serving you, so go elsewhere.

Response Time – Our Water Damage business based in Brisbane operates to a 59 minute response time for a water damage emergency. The job needs to be done ASAP. Mould can appear within a 24 hour period.

If you focus on these tips you are sure to locate a Flood Damage Restoration business who knows what they are doing.

If you have carpet water damage Brisbane, call us for flooded wet carpet drying. Brisbane storm season is approaching and you may need storm damage carpet cleaning. Brisbane and surrounding areas serviced.


Podiatry as a Career in Australia

Posted: August 13th, 2010 | Author: squadron | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , | No Comments »

As a practicing podiatrist in Brisbane, Australia, I am frequently asked by parents if podiatry would be a good career for a school leaver to consider . There are many things to recommend a career in podiatry including:

  • You can be self employed: This is a choice that is increasingly being denied to other health care providers such as optometrists and even General Practitioners . Big Business controls a lot of health practices. Consider how often you see an independent optometrist these days – can they compete on price with the multinational chains?
  • Legal Issues: In Australia (unlike the USA where things are very different), podiatrists very, very rarely get sued . The nature of podiatry practice does not lend itself to accidentally harming one’s patients. Also, you never have to give your customers the bad news that their condition will be terminal.
  • Working Hours: Emergency call outs are very unlikely. This is good news for those among us who like their sleep uninterrupted.
  • Financial Reward: Whilst it is true that podiatry doesn’t pay as well as being a dentist or medical practitioner, the salary is generally commensurate with other allied health providers.
  • Instant Gratification: One of the best facets of being a podiatrist is the instant gratification! People come in with pain and leave happy. You will experience a plethora of bite-sized jobs each day, many with a cure you can provide immediately. From someone that has worked with unanimously grumpy customers in a past career, believe me when I tell you, it makes the day much more rewarding when people leave you smiling.
  • Philanthropy: Podiatry will provide you plenty of opportunity to help eliminate the suffering of your fellow human beings.
  • Self – Determination: Podiatry gives a professional the power to determine their own course of action for the benefit of their patients. This is unlike a career in nursing for example where one works under the instruction of a doctor.
  • Clear Job roles: The only people who can work as a podiatrist are those with a podiatry qualification. The clear roles that this defines relieves the requirement to find your ‘niche’ after university – as someone with a more generic Bachelor of Science degree might need to do.
  • Got the urge to travel? There are many places across the world that do not produce their own podiatrists including Tasmania, the Northern Territory, all of Asia and all of the Middle East. If you want to work around the the world, Australian podiatrists can work in any Commonwealth country and are particularly in demand in Singapore, Egypt, United Arab Emirates and other far flung fields.
  • Variety: In any given day, a podiatrist will see a great range of complaints. There may be an ingrown toenail or two, a painful corn, a sports injury, some sacroiliac pain and at least a couple of painful heels . The essence of being a good podiatrist is to be an effective problem solver. Each patient is an individual with a unique problem requiring a well considered solution.

How do you train as a podiatrist ?

To qualify as a podiatrist necessitates) a four year Bachelor of Health Science degree course {available at six Australian Universities:

  • Curtin University
  • La Trobe University
  • Charles Sturt University
  • Queensland University of Technology
  • University of South Australia
  • University of Western Sydney.

Last year, the entry score for the QUT was OP 8.

Stephanie Cosgrove graduated as a podiatrist from QUT in 1990 and with a Master’s degree in Applied Science (Podiatry) in 1996. Since 1991, she has worked in private practice as a Podiatrist Brisbane. She received three university prizes during her studies, including the award for excellence in design and manufacture of orthotics. Brisbane has been the site of her private practice since 1991 which has grown to four locations and eleven staff. If you want to Walk Without Pain consider a visit to Brisbane’s most innovative podiatry practice today. Call for an appointment now on 1300 A1 Feet.


Eight Steps to Great Web Design

Posted: August 7th, 2010 | Author: squadron | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , | No Comments »

Take charge of getting your site produced by a developer and understand the process it will save you money and attain you a site that actually works the intended purpose!

1. Comprehending your business and how you are currently established in your market.
In order to formulate a site that truly meets your requirements; you first need to have a full knowledge of your business including your products, and/or services and more importantly their market position. You then have to consider how you want to explain your business and what it offers in 7 seconds or less. Sounds impossible? Well that is the average time that a user will consider the point “is this site I searched for?”.

2. Budget and estimation
Have a budget in mind and don’t be afraid to let the developers know what it is. In saying this: BE REALISTIC, $500 will never see a great web site created, nor will they be anything left in the bank to market it.

3. The creative process
Be armed with example sites and more importantly the elements of the site you like so they can get an understanding of what you would like to see on your site and also what you find frustrating about other sites. This will build a good profile and identify not only what type of site to construct for you but your tolerance to colours, animations, layouts etc. for your requirements which will allow for effective development. The more interaction and information you confer them in the beginning the more time you will save everybody in the long run by achieving what you want 1st time round. Check with the designers on how many rounds of changes come with the contract, most will allow for a total conceptual redesign only once and 2 rounds of changes after that.

4. Production and Content
After the home page design is made, the developers will more than likely acquire the general layout of this concept and then create the inner page template. It is this template that will be repeated for most of your pages for your site.
Present your content in a pre-proofed word processed document; don’t get too creative with the document fonts etc. as these will not be preserved when the content is copied into the code of the site. It is preferred that you do use bolding, underlining, headings and sub heading though ,as these highlights are transferred into the site and are crucial later on in not only interacting with the reader but for Search Engine Optimisation.
One last tip for content; present a decent amount of content but present it in a way that a reader may accomplish a summary of what you are trying to present across in the 1st couple of paragraphs and an image or to. The rest of the paragraphs that get into finer details ARE FOR GOOGLE !

5. Development Programming and CMS
If your website contains Content Managed Areas (CMS) or has any other dynamic sections the developers will wrap your design around a content management program such as Joomla or Drupal or they may have a custom built system. Make sure that you get to see how the CMS system operate on another site they have developed or an example site they may have. it is essential that you know that you can use and comprehend the system when your site is complete.

6. Testing and training
We work closely with the developers to test your site especially if there are any CMS or special programs that have been made for you. You can guarantee if it is has just been written for you then it will not operate 100% first time round. This is a where things can get ugly in the process you must understand the way the program operates and test it as if you were normal website user. If it doesn’t make sense to you, odds are it won’t make sense to your audience. Make sure you test your website on more than just your browser, try to test it on Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari. All of these browsers are on the internet for free!

7. Launch – going live
When the developers are ready to put your site onlive make sure you have completed the above testing step until you are certain that this website is the best representation of your business / product it can be. Remember even though you can change things after going live it is still a poor reflection on your business if there are spelling mistakes or broken images when you launch.

8. Marketing
There is little point in having a website if nobody visits it, make sure as part of you contract you have discussed search engine optimisation and or search engine marketing as part of your website build. This is the absolute most important factor of the whole process. If you are the only one looking at your site then you are in trouble.

Remember Search Engine Optimisation is about 30% Onsite (getting your site correct for Search Engine to index correctly) and 70% Promotion. Any developer who tells you otherwise hasn’t been in the industry too long.

For more information about web design Brisbane, contact Web Site Blue. Our web designers understand marketing as well as design.


Tips to Creating a New Business Logo

Posted: August 6th, 2010 | Author: squadron | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , | No Comments »

A logo is a decisive step to creating a business. It is the face of your business. And like your face conveys the tone of your business, gestures the service and displays the professionalism or lack there of.

People spend a lot of money on the formation of their logo and walk away with no artwork files. Then a couple months down the track when they require to put signage on their new building they cannot track the design studio down that created the original logo for them and so incur costs to have it recreated. This is needless and may cause obstacles when trying to replecate the logo exactly as completed originally.

We have created some basic tips you for to think about when creating a logo. Hopefully these will help you from experiencing any future difficulties.

Tip 1
First things first – you need to decide if you would like your logo to have an accompanying icon. It is suggested that if your service or product name is not in your business name then perhaps an icon will help in portraying a clear message across to your target audience.

An icon can add an extra element to your branding in that you could use the icon on its own on collateral where perhaps you are looking for a more illustrative finish without losing recognition.

A excellent example of this is the well-known and executed Nike logo.

Tip 2
Colour can be an crucial decision as it not only could influence the output costs but can also limit your output use. Think about the end result and what you will be bringing your branding onto in the future. Make sure your designer is aware of this as they should design accordingly.

Tip 3
Confirm you get a back up disk of your logo as a master file and assure that it includes all the files needed for the different printing formats.

Creative software updates frequently and some programmes become obsolete. Insure you have a copy of your logo as a PDF – with the text converted to curves.

Tip 4
Using images in your logo is not very easy to accomplish. For example it is hard to to reverse into black and white. Images also have limitations when it comes to size – they can only be reproduced to a certain size before they start pixilation.

Tip 5
Using gradients in your logo is not recommended. This too can have limitations when it comes to output for ie: gradients are hard to reproduce when embroidering fabrics.

Tip 6
Assure sure the font is legible. Some logos need to be reproduced on small pieces of collateral ie: post stamps. It is important that in this case the text is
legible.

Tip 7
Insure that you collect a copy of your logo in CMYK high resolution 300 dpi (for printing use) and RGB 72 dpi(for web use).

Tip 8
It is important to have a style guide of your logo. It will clearly show you how to use your logo so it looks exactly the same every time it is reproduced. This allows you to keep your corporate image consistent.

Tip 9
Make sure that you get a letter from the design studio declaring that you own the copyright to your logo.

If you follow these tips then not only will you receive a well-designed logo but you will also own the artwork. And when it comes to reproducing your collateral you will be doing it the most cost effective way.

For logo design Brisbane and web design Brisbane, contact Bydaughters today for a free two hour consultation.


How to Create a Style Guide

Posted: July 31st, 2010 | Author: squadron | Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »

How many times have you commissioned business cards to print and procured yet another version of your corporate colour? Ever been delighted to see your advert in the latest newspaper and then observed that the crucial tag line is gone or your logo has been squashed.

There is only one way to stop this from happening and that is to create a style guide. Not only will a style guide aid you steer the reproduction of your logo – it will also help you bolster your brand recognition – which many argue is one of the strongest selling tools.

We have placed the below steps together for you as a starting point.

Step 1 : Define the audience for your Style Guide. Is this for staff to utilize in-house or is this for suppliers and contractors to refer to?

Step 2 : Outline what your output uses are. This is important because you will need different logos and file formats for example, black and white publication adverts in comparison to vehicle graphics.

Step 3 : Define the tone for the copy and content required. For example you may needcopy rules for printed content and then copy rules for website content.

Content rules cover all punctuation rules and how to specify to the business and team.

Step 4 : Make certain you layout all the design templates so it is clear how and where the logo and branding sits on all the different pieces of collateral that may be repeated.

Step 5 : Make certain to insert any contributing logos or logos of business that are associated with you. It’s also important that you send a copy of the layout to these companies to ensure they agree with the layout of their logo as they too may have their own Style Guide and hierarchy layout rules.

Step 6 : Make sure that grammar, spelling and contact details are correct.

Step 7 : Insure that when suppliers are using the Style Guide they understand~know~discern~apprehend} that a proof needs to be dispatched~sent~mailed~commissioned}to you to be affirmed as correct.

Have your Style Guide finished and as established as possible. Then have it saved in an email friendly file format and have a couple printed. Once this is done we strongly suggest a training session – whereby your design studio arrives and trains your staff on how to work the Style Guide and most importantly your brand.

For graphic design Brisbane, logo design Brisbane and web design Brisbane, contact Bydaughters today. We help your brand build business.


Projectors: LCD Verses DLP (The downfall of DLP technology)

Posted: July 19th, 2010 | Author: squadron | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , | No Comments »

The most common question asked when looking for a new projector for the home, office, or classroom is: would I purchase an LCD projector or a DLP projector? LCD, an acronym for ‘liquid crystal device’ and DLP, an acronym for ‘digital light processing’ are the two most common projector imaging technologies. With so many company brands and types available, it can be challenging for clients to decide between the two technologies. Ultimately LCD projectors have better image quality and colour accuracy. The following article will tell you why DLP projectors struggle with reproducing a similar standard of image quality.

Visualise a set of blinds in your home over your bedroom window. By twisting a rod you can have the shutters open or closed, depending on if you want to let light in or not. And this is exactly how an LCD projector operates. Each pixel works like an individual shutter on a set of blinds to either allow light through or to block it. DLP on the other hand is created of millions of microscopic mirrors or ‘pixel elements’ as the pros like to call them. Each pixel element works to either reflect light or block it.

How the light source is processed from the point when the projector is switched on to when the image reaches your screen is vitally important for image quality, brightness and colour accuracy. LCD projectors project white light from the lamp by splitting it into red, blue and green components, by three mirrors which send the coloured light to 3 separate LCD panels. The 3 LCD panels create the elements of the image by turning each pixel on and off. The pixels are then combined in a glass prism to send the projector image. A significant point to know about LCD projectors is that all three colours are delivered onto your projector screen at once. The way a DLP projector works is very different and even how an image comes out is not the same. With DLP, white light from the lamp is projected through a turning colour wheel with transparent red, blue and green segments, at speeds up to 11,000 rpm/s. This way of creating an image requires a sequence of red, blue and green light. The millions of micro mirrors as described above reflect the coloured light on the pixels to construct the image elements. The elements of the image are sent in sequence on the screen, one colour at a time. The viewer’s vision will then combine each coloured element of the image into the single whole image. With LCD projectors, all colours are available all the time to deliver top brightness and spectacular colour accuracy. In DLP, just one colour is available at a time, resulting in lower colour brightness and accuracy. Some DLP designers have included a white segment into the colour wheel to improve general brightness, but this goes and damages colour accuracy.

I see in forums all the time that DLP offers a higher contrast ratio and as such must be superior. For those uncertain, the contrast ratio is a measure of a display system defined as the ratio of the luminance of the brightest white to that of the darkest black that the system is capable of. DLP projectors do have high contrast specifications when compared to many LCD projectors. At one glance, this must be an advantage, however, in the real world, the true black level is determined by the ambient light in the room where the projector is being used. Do not be fooled by contrast specifications on websites and in brochures.

When the content you want to project requires moving images, DLP projection technology also has image marks, or ‘artifacts’. The most often seen artifact that a DLP projector shows with moving images is colour break up. Colour break up is inherent in DLP systems because moving images keep changing between the time red, blue and green colours are displayed. LCD projectors do not have this disadvantage because the colours are sent at once. DLP developers have developed 3DLP solutions using 3 chips to answer the colour break up error, but the expense of these projectors make them almost impossible for the large part of businesses and consumers.

Another variance between LCD and DLP is how they match the balance for the refractive qualities of light. Take yourself back to high school science, and they taught you how the different colours of light refract various amounts when projected through the same lens. The problem with DLP projectors is that they have the one same panel with the same lens to project Red, Blue and Green. All 3 colours are obviously different and refract light in different ways. Often with a DLP projector, some yellow colour will come up above and some blue will come through below something as simple as a lone black line. While being built LCD projectors can be fixed to reduce these effects on the projected image, as each colour is directed on separate LCD panels.

The one true benefit (excluding price) with taking a DLP projector is its smaller total size and weight. However, this is only relevant in regard to transporting the device and has to be traded off against the image benefits of LCD projectors. If the outcome of the picture quality is vital to you, then the answer is simple. Take an LCD projector! LCD projectors will consistently produce bright, colourful images with fewer image imperfections. If you desire to ask more about LCD technology in more detail, have a look at this spectacular resource website: Explore 3LCD. If you have any additional questions, jump onto Projector Central and send me an email.

Jonathan King is the sales and marketing manager at Projector Central, Australia’s top online shop for projectors. Brisbane based, Projector Central has serviced Australia for 15 years. For data projectors in Brisbane and Interactive Whiteboards, contact Projector Central today.


Yachting and Yacht Clubs

Posted: July 16th, 2010 | Author: squadron | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , | No Comments »

As the Dutch found preeminence in sea power during the 17th century, the early yacht was a leisure craft used initially by royalty and then by the burghers for the canals as well as the protected and unprotected waters of the Low Countries. Racing yachts was incidental, borne from private challenges. English yachting originated with King Charles II of England during his exile in the Low Countries. On his return to the English throne in 1660, the city of Amsterdam gave him a 20-metre (66-foot) pleasure boat with a beam (maximum width) of 5.6 m (18 feet), which he then named Mary. Charles and his brother James, the duke of York (James II, sovereign 1685–88), ordered for other yachts and in 1662 raced two of them from the Thames, from Greenwich, to Gravesend, and the same way back, on a £100 wager. Yachting became popular among the wealthy and royalty, but after that time the habit did not last.

The first yacht club in the British Isles, the Water Club, was instigated around about 1720 at Cork, Ire., as a cruising and unofficial coast guard group, and had great naval panoply and formality. The closest thing to a race was the “chase,” when the “fleet” pursued an imaginary enemy. The club persisted, largely as a social club, until 1765, and in 1828, by conglomerating with other societies, it was known as the Cork Yacht Club (later the Royal Cork Yacht Club).

Yacht racing began in some ordered fashion on the Thames around the mid-18th century. The duke of Cumberland instigated the Cumberland Fleet for Thames racing in 1775. When George IV rose to sovereignty in 1820, it was called the Fleet to His Majesty’s Coronation Sailing Society. The Thames Yacht Club seceded after a racing argument, to become the Royal Thames Yacht Club in 1830. The first English yacht society had been initiated at Cowes on the Isle of Wight in 1815, and royal sponsorship made the Solent – the strait between the mainland and the Isle of Wight – the continuing location of British yacht racing. The club at Cowes became the Royal Yachting Club, again at the ascension of George IV. Every member was required to own boats of at least 20 tons (20,321 kg). Sailing tests for large bids were held, and the social life was lovely. Eventually Royal Yachting Club boats increased in size to more than 350 tons.

In North America, yachting was first accomplished with the Dutch in New York in the 17th century and persisted when the English had control. Sailing was for the most part for fun and reached its high point in George Crowinshield’s Cleopatra’s Barge (1815), which traveled on the Mediterranean Sea and set a benchmark of luxury and elegance for the later yachts in those waters from the late 19th century. The first enduring American yacht organisation, the Detroit Boat Club, was instigated in 1839. In 1844, John C. Stevens founded the New York Yacht Club aboard his schooner Gimcrack.

Kinds of sailboats
Early sailing yachts were within the lines of such naval craft as brigantines, schooners, and cutters from the 17th century until the later half of the 19th century. The craft of large yachts was originally largely put upon by the win of America, which was drawn by George Steers for a group led by John C. Stevens, and it was the boat for which the America’s Cup (q.v.) found its namesake after its win at Cowes in 1851. The first yachts were not designed and built in today’s sense, with merely a model being used. Not until the latter half of the 19th century did what was called naval architecture come into being. Not until the 1920s did the employment of the science of aerodynamics do for the craft of sails and rigging what it had already done for hulls.

Because nearly all sailboats had been individually manufactured, there was a desire for handicapping boats as this was before the one-design class boats were built. Therefore, a rating rule was decreed, which resulted in the International Rule, taken on in 1906 and edited in 1919. Today, one of the fastest growing areas in sailing is that of one-design class boats. All boats in a one-design class are created to single requirements in length, beam, sail area, and other elements (for an example of a two-person sailboat, see illustration). Racing these boats can be done on an even playing field with no handicapping required. A prime example is the generic International America’s Cup Class taken on for racers in the 1992 America’s Cup race.

As long as yachting was done largely for the nobility and the rich, money was no problem, and the size of boats developed, in both length and weight. The ascendancy and popularity of smaller yachts happened in the later half of the 19th century out of the sailing of the Englishmen R.T. McMullen, a stockbroker, and E.F. Knight, a barrister and journalist. A journey around the world (1895–98) captained single-handedly by the naturalized American captain Joshua Slocum in the 11.3-metre Spray made plain the seaworthiness of small yachts. Later in the 20th century, particularly after World War II, smaller racing and pleasure craft became more common, down to the dinghy, a favoured training boat, of 3.7 m. In the late 20th century, yachts of less than 3 m were setting sail single-handedly across the Atlantic Ocean.

Kinds of power yachts
After the decade 1840–50, during which steam began to take the place of sail power in market vessels, the steam engine, and later the internal-combustion engine, were increasingly used in leisure craft. Bigger power yachts were developed to a high degree, and long-distance sailing was a fond occupation of the well off. The first power yachts were paddle-wheel boats; those then made way to those powered by the fully submerged screw or propeller sort of propulsion. Like naval and merchant craft, auxiliaries possessing both sail and power were the yacht standard for many years. By the second half of the 20th century, a lot of yachts were still auxiliaries, but the majority were solely power yachts that had gasoline or diesel engines.

In the last decade of the 19th century there was a boom in the design of large steam yachts. In particular within these was the Mayflower (1897) of 2,690 tons, with triple-expansion engines, twin screws, and a compartmented iron hull, and was sailed by a crew of over 150. The Mayflower, commissioned by the United States Navy in 1898, was the official yacht of the president of the United States until 1929 and saw active service for World War II.

As more sizeable and better quality internal-combustion engines were created, many big craft started using them for power. The creation of the diesel engine, employing heavy oil for fuel, was furthered in World War I. During the decade that followed, large power-yacht manufacture grew, hitting a climax in the Orion (1930) at 3,097 tons. During that time the largest auxiliary yacht built was the four-masted, steel, barque-rigged Sea Cloud (1931) of 2,323 tons.

The construction of big power boats fell away after 1932, and the trend thereafter was for smaller, less expensive yachts. Following World War II, a lot of small naval vessels were sold to private owners for conversion to yachts. By the late 20th century, yachting is a globally beloved activity enjoyed by thousands of yachtsmen individually owning and keeping their own small leisure craft. The popularity of yachts and sailors increased steadily, not only in the traditional locations by the beach but also on inland waterways and lakes.

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Proportional, Progressive, and Regressive taxes

Posted: July 8th, 2010 | Author: squadron | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , | No Comments »

Taxes are categorized by the effect they have on the allocation of income and wealth. A proportional tax is one that puts the same relative burden on each taxpayer—i.e., where tax liability and income increase in equal levels. A progressive tax is recognisable by a larger than proportional growth in the tax burden in regard to the increase in income, and a regressive tax is characterizable by a less than proportional increase in the comparable liability. Therefore, progressive taxes are regarded as removing inequity in income distribution, whereas regressive taxes might have the effect of increasing these inequalities.

The taxes that are generally believed to be progressive include individual income taxes and estate taxes. Income taxes that are nominally progressive, however, can become less so in the upper-income class—particularly if a taxpayer is permitted to lessen his tax base by claiming deductions or by leaving out certain income aspects from his taxable income. Proportional tax rates if applied to lower-income groups would also be more progressive if exemptions of a personal nature are claimed.

Income measured over the period of a year might not necessarily give the most suitable measure of taxpaying status. For example, transitory increases in income can be saved, and in temporary declines in income a taxpayer may choose to pay for consumption by decreasing savings. Ergo, if taxation is made comparable with “permanent income,” it will be less regressive (or more progressive) than if it is compared with annual income.

Sales taxes and excises (with the exception of luxuries) tend to be regressive, because the portion of one’s income consumed or spent for a specific good lessens as the amount of personal income rises. Poll taxes (also termed head taxes), levied as a flat amount per capita, obviously are regressive.

It is not simple to classify corporate income taxes and taxes on business as progressive, regressive, or proportionate, due to a lack of certainty surrounding the ability of businesses to shift their tax expenses (see below Shifting and incidence). This difficulty of dictating who bears the tax burden rests fundamentally on whether a national or a subnational (that is, provincial or state) tax is being determined.

In analysing the economic purpose of taxation, it is essential to differentiate between various points of tax rates. The statutory rates are those dictated in law; commonly these are marginal rates, but occasionally they are average rates. Marginal income tax rates indicate the fraction of incremental income taken by taxation when income is increased by one dollar. Thus, if tax liability increases by 45 cents when income grows by one dollar, the marginal tax rate is 45 percent. Income tax regulations generally contain graduated marginal rates—i.e., rates that rise as income rises. Heavy analysis of marginal tax rates should take into account provisions in addition to the formal statutory rate structure. If, for example, a particular tax credit (reduction in tax) decreases by 20 cents for each one-dollar growth in income, the marginal rate is 20 percentage points greater than indicated by the statutory rates. Since marginal rates specify how after-tax income is changed in response to changes in before-tax income, they are the relevant ones for assessing incentive effects of taxation. It is even more complicated to nominate the marginal effective tax rate applied to income from business and capital, as it may be reliant on such considerations as the structure of depreciation allowances, the deductibility of interest, and the provisions for inflation adjustment. A basic economic theorem grants that the marginal effective tax rate in income from capital is zero under a consumption-based tax.

Average income tax rates indicate the fraction of total income that is demanded in taxation. The pattern of average rates is the one that is in consideration for assessing the distributional equity of taxation. Under a progressive income tax the average income tax rate grows with income. Average income tax rates commonly increase with income, both because personal allowances are permitted for the taxpayer and dependents and because marginal tax rates are graduated; on the other side of things, preferential treatment of income received predominantly by high-income households could dwarf these effects, forcing regressivity, as signified by average tax rates that decrease as income rises.

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